Tag: election

The People Have Spoken

And while I’m not happy with their decision, it is theirs to make, and I will respect that. I know that for many, their reasons were upright and true. I honestly, truly, deeply hope they are right about their champion. I would very much like to be wrong about the damage that might be done. And I will be the first to admit it if that’s the case.

For right now, I’ve decided that I will remain calm, try very hard not to overreact, and wait and see what actually happens.  Attempting to respond to what our new President has said is simply overwhelming, and ultimately of no consequence. I will wait and see what he does, what he is allowed to do, that is what matters, and then I will respond as events unfold. And I will hope for the best.

It may be wishful thinking, but I am hoping there are still enough good people of principle in the Republican party to keep his worst ideas at bay, and that there are still enough good people of principle in the Democratic party to help push forward his best ideas forward. It will be a time for leaders, on both sides, to stand up, be counted, and do what is right for the country. I hope they are up to it. To that end, this is what I am expecting…

Republicans…

Let me speak to you for a moment. You now have the Presidency, control of the House, control of the Senate, and are soon to have a majority of Supreme Court justices.  In short, you have literally EVERYTHING YOU NEED to accomplish your goals. Everything! You have NO EXCUSES.

You say you can make America great? Do it! Make America great. Make America better than it is right now. Healthcare, jobs, unemployment, national debt, infrastructure, immigration, crime, guns, ISIS… Take your pick. Pick at least one of those, and make it better. Pick two if you can. You have full control. Keep your leader focused on the right things, and accomplish something meaningful for the American people. There is no excuse for failure. And we will be watching. And we will be keeping score. And we will hold you accountable. You have two years. If it goes well, we may even consider giving you full control for two more. Now GO!

Democrats…

Listen up Democrats. You have ONE job. Just one. Find someone who is less reprehensible than Hillary Clinton. That’s it. And that’s a really, really low bar, so it shouldn’t be all that hard. Find someone responsible, respectable, breathing, and if possible, who doesn’t use email. Someone who can step in should the Trump administration devolve into the shitstorm we all know it is capable of if left unsupervised. Seriously, have someone ready, no more screwing around. That is your ONLY job.  You have four years to make it happen. Ready? GO!

Independents, Third Partiers, and Non-Voters…

Pay attention. Seriously, just look up once in a while. Nobody is real sure what’s going to happen next, but whatever it is, we are going to need your voice. So just, you know, be aware of your surroundings a bit.

Last Night’s Debate

I know you are all anxiously awaiting my analysis of last night’s debate (that’s a cue to most of you to stop reading now – this will be boring and probably piss you off), so… Here we go…

Romney – Was very effective hitting the following point: Whatever Obama’s plan is, he’s had four years to implement it, and has achieved no results. This, in a nutshell, is how Romney wins the election. It is a great argument, largely because it is simple and it is true. He landed some solid blows with it last night. Going forward the heart of his campaign should be focused on that one thing and one thing only – the ineffectiveness of Obama.

As for the rest of his performance, he did exactly what he needed to do – look presidential, and don’t say anything stupid.

Obama – Missed some key opportunities last night. The only way Obama wins is by countering the “ineffectiveness” argument. Obama has to point out exactly how he has been effective. There are three topics where he can do this:

1) The trajectory of the economy. Yes the economy is still down, but when he took office it was heading down and heading down rapidly. Obama has to make the argument that he stopped the downward spiral, that the economy has not only leveled off, but is now, at least marginally, headed back up.

2) GM. This has been potrayed as a bailout of a single company that deserved to fail. He has to present this as the saving of an entire industry. There is an argument to be made here, the failure of GM could have crippled the auto industry in this country, especially in light of the competition from Europe and Japan.

3) Obamacare. He has to own this, and own it in a big way. He staked his entire first term to it, a huge risk (arguably a huge mistake), so he has to explain why it was so important. He has to do what he failed to do in the first place – he has to sell it to the American public. Granted, a difficult task to be sure, but there is a case to be made there.

On all three points, Obama touched on each one briefly, but utterly failed to make a case with any of them. Swing and a miss. To make matters worse, he had no response, none at all, to Romney’s “ineffectiveness” argument. This I don’t understand – how did they not see that coming?

So… Round One goes to Romney.

It will be interesting to see how the candidates recalibrate for round two.

Swing State

One of the “benefits” of living in a swing state is we get to see all of the campaign commercials. Two in particular have been making the rounds, one featuring Obama, and the other featuring Bill Clinton for Obama, both basically suggesting we need to continue on the same path, and eventually it will all work out.

This reminds me of that little kid at the party who keeps trying to do the magic trick, but never quite gets it right. “Is this your card?” “No wait, here, is THIS your card?” “No, hold on, let me do it again, is this your card?” “No?” Eventaully his mommy will come along and tell him that’s enough, and to go play in his room now.

Now let me be clear, I don’t think Obama is the Devil. I don’t think he is the anti-Christ. I don’t think he is a Socialist. I don’t think he will plunge this country into a thousand years of darkness. (Really Chuck? A thousand years of darkness?). But, I am getting tired of waiting for his magic trick to work, and I think maybe it is time for him to go to his room.

Only problem is, then we have to talk to creepy Uncle Mitt, and he always calls us “sport” and “champ” and rubs our head and asks how our lacrosse team is doing this year, and I don’t know what to say ’cause I don’t even know wtf lacrosse is.